Monday, November 17, 2014

House Bill Calls for Cultural Property Protection Czar and for Import Restrictions on Syrian Heritage in Jeopardy

“The fight to preserve our
common cultural heritage, as well as to deny extremists such as ISIL [Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria] resources from the sale of blood antiquities, is yet
another front on the global war against terror,” proclaimed Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.-4) in apress
statementissued last week.

Rep. Smith, together with Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.-16), introduced the Protect and Preserve International
Cultural Property Act (H.R. 5703) in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. The bill would create
a cultural property protection czar and set up import restrictions to prevent looted and smuggled Syrian heritage material from crossing America's borders.

Rep. Engel, the lead sponsor of the bill, emphasized its importance: “Since World
War II, the United States has been a leader in protecting cultural property.
Today, ISIL and other terrorist organizations have found a lucrative source of
revenue in artifacts they traffic out of areas of conflict. America must
respond by denying terrorists and criminals the ability to profit from
instability by looting the world of its greatest treasures.”

The proposed legislation would advance four articulated U.S. policy goals designed to

(1)protect and preserve
international cultural property at risk of destruction due to political
instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters;

(2)protect international
cultural property pursuant to its obligations under the 1954 Hague Convention
for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and
customary international law in all conflicts to which the United States is a party;

(3)prevent, in accordance with
existing laws, importation of cultural property pillaged, looted, or stolen
during political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters;
and

(4)ensure that existing laws
and regulations, including import restrictions imposed through the Office of
Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury, are fully
implemented to prevent the trafficking in stolen or looted cultural property.

To promote these objectives, the lawmakers want the White House to appoint a Coordinator for International Cultural
Property Protection who will

(1)
coordinate and promote efforts to address international cultural property
protection activities that involve multiple Federal agencies, including diplomatic
activities, military activities, law enforcement activities, import
restrictions, and the work of the Cultural Antiquities Task Force established
pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 (Public Law 108-199);

(2)
submit to the appropriate congressional committees an annual report on
interagency efforts to protect international cultural property based on
information required under section 5 of this Act;

(3)
provide policy recommendations, if necessary;

(4)
resolve interagency differences in a timely, efficient, and effective manner;
and

(5)
work and consult with domestic and international actors such as foreign
governments, nongovernmental organizations, museums, educational institutions,
research institutions, and the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield on efforts to
promote and protect international cultural property.

Under the terms of the legislative proposal, the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of Defense,
and United
States Agency for International Development Administrator
would be required to submit reports to the cultural
property protection czar that describe each department’s efforts to protect
cultural property from the threats of armed conflict, political
unrest, crime, construction activities, and natural disaster.The bill curiously omits any duties that might have been placed on the Secretaries of Treasury, Interior, or Homeland Security to supply reports directly to the Coordinator. These cabinet officials supervise agencies that have an impact on international cultural property policy—agencies like the the Office of Terrorism and Financial Assistance, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement'sHomeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection divisions. At best, the proposed legislation would have the Attorney General simply offer a report "in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security."

Reps. Engel and Smith also want to implement safeguards to protect endangered Syrian cultural property. Their bill would mandate the President to immediately enact emergency
import restrictions under the terms of the Convention on the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) 19 U.S.C. 2603 in order to stop looted and smuggled antiquities from entering the American marketplace.

The
legislation attempts to offer a solution to the CPIA's cumbersome statutory framework, which currently requires Syria’s government—under whatever form
that might be at present—to first ask the State Department for American import controls restricting cultural objects. Recall that
the White House recognized
the rebels as the legitimate governing authority of the Syrian Arab Republic in 2012.

It
remains to be seen whether the 113th Congress will take up these critical requests for a cultural property policy coordinator or for import controls to protect threatened heritage. Congress is in a lame
duck session following the GOP's sweeping election victory earlier this month. Yet the proposed legislation already has been referred to the House Committees on Foreign
Affairs, Ways and Means, Armed Services, and Judiciary. The bill's sponsors, more importantly, are well-known fixtures in the House. They hail from from safe districts where constituents regularly
vote them back in office by wide margins.

Rep.
Engel is the ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is a
liberal Democrat who recently earned a fourteenth term after facing no opponent in a district that encompasses New York’s Westchester County and the Bronx. Rep. Engel is known for his
sponsorship of the
Syria
Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act.

Rep.
Smith, meanwhile, first arrived on Capitol Hill following the election of 1980. He is a popular
conservative Republican representing Trenton and central New Jersey. He possesses expertise on the topics of foreign affairs and organized crime, serving as senior
member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; chair of the Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe; chair
of the Subcommittee on Subcommittee on Africa,
Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations; and chairman of the Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus. Last year Rep. Smith introduced
a resolution to establish a Syrian
war crimes tribunal.

The full text of H.R. 5703, the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act, can be found here.

Photo credit: House.gov

By Rick St. Hilaire
Text copyrighted 2014 by Cultural Heritage Lawyer. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post without the express written consent of CHL is prohibited.

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